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Instead of kicking off the show with a musical number, Nintendo instead went with a montage of clips ranging from YouTube videos to news reports about the Wii and DS to even clips from South Park – all setting the tone for the rest of the show. While keeping an eye on their hardcore fans, Nintendo is also focusing on expanding its market – beginning with this year’s E3.
After the montage, Reggie takes the stage. Though not quite the Internet celebrity he used to be, Reggie again introduces himself with the line that made him a star, “My name is Reggie. And I… am happy.” Okay, so it wasn’t the exact line, but Nintendo of America’s President certainly has a lot to be happy about after the stellar year the company has had.
Keeping with tradition, Reggie jumps right into the numbers. The video games business has risen 46% since this time last year. Growth is just as big in the UK and Japan. According to Reggie, this type of growth isn’t possible by targeting the existing market, but by expanding the market. Reggie goes on to call this time a celebration for the entire industry and a, “conclusive turning point for the video game market.” As if you couldn’t have guessed, 69% of the industry’s growth is because of Nintendo – especially when it comes to the handheld market, which is being led by sales of the DS. The rest of that market is attributed to the GBA.
Continuing with numbers: a third of the market is made up of players 25 and older and, although males make up 80% of the market, for Nintendo, women represent a third of its sales. This growth is especially apparent in Japan. If there is a Wii in the household, older women and men are likely to try it thanks to software like Brain Age, Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy and Nintendogs. Reggie acknowledges past critics who stated that the Wii and DS were fads – but, in the words of Reggie, “The reality is this: Nintendo is not a fad. Nintendo is the future.”
After another montage of fan-made videos, Reggie presented what he called the first offspring of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk – the Wii Zapper, a new housing for both accessories that essentially turns the two into tommy-gun styled controller. The aim of the Wii Zapper is to revolutionize first-person shooters the same way the Wii-Mote changed sports games. Three upcoming titles will support the Wii Zapper: Medal of Honor from EA, Ghost Squad from Sega and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles from Capcom.
The Zapper will come packaged with a game and retail for $20 (okay, so he said $19.99…).
Footage of Soulcalibur Legends and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 was shown. This was soon followed up by Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for DS, Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Swords and a game that has nabbed my interest – Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Footage of the game was shown featuring cast members from both franchises as they took part in a sprint. Though you would think that Sonic would win hands down, Mario clearly beats him. Obviously the Nintendo’s systems lack blast processing, otherwise Sonic would have easily won.
This leads up to Nintendo’s second big announcement – Super Smash Bros. Brawl hits store shelves December 3.
Reggie then invited two writers, Mike and Jackie, to the stage to demonstrate two upcoming games with the help of Nintendo’s Bill Trinnen. Mike was first up with a demo of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for DS. The game uses a touch screen interface for everything from walking to fighting to using the boomerang. Jackie then hit the stage to show off Metroid Prime: Corruption. The big news with the Wii version is what Trinnen referred to as “lock-on free aiming.” The system allows you to lock-on to a target and strafe around it. While locked-on, you can also free-aim the Wii-mote. Trinnen also showed off “Hyper Mode,” which powers up Samus at the cost of “corrupting” her.
Reggie then brings up the question of when Nintendo would get serious about online. He then said that the company already has; only we didn’t know. Another montage of media coverage is shown along with more numbers: 5.5 million DS owners have used the system’s WiFi connection. In addition, 5.6 million downloads have taken place on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Reggie also mentioned WiiWare, which is designed to help smaller developers generate content for the system, and a new channel, “Check Mii Out,” where you can upload and vote on user-created Miis – sort of like “Hot or Not” but with crudely abstract people. Reggie also hinted at contests in the future focusing on creating celebrity look-alike Miis.
He also mentions that people are already battling online with Poke’mon Battle Revolution and will soon compete with Mario Strikers Charged. Both Madden 08 and FIFA 08 will be online this year. Also, Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker will use the DS’s WiFi connection. Guitar Hero III was also shown and will feature an exclusive wireless controller.
Oh… Mario Kart Wii will hit early next year and will ship with a custom Wii controller.
Nintendo Worldwide President Satoru Iwata then took the stage to further emphasize Nintendo’s push towards the mass market. He talked about his first gaming experience and which led into some of his current favorites like the DS Cookbook (please bring this to North America Nintendo!!) and Brain Age. He wants to destroy the barrier that divides casual and hardcore players by creating games that appeal to both – something he believes Nintendo is having success at doing and will continue to in the future.
Another group of gamers was profiled, Robin and Rigo, who gave impressions of Super Mario Galaxy and Brain Age 2. On the topic of Brain Age 2, it has already outsold the original and will be available in North America on August 20. As for Super Mario, Reggie called it the true successor to Mario 64 and announced that it will be available November 12.
Back to expanding the audience, Reggie highlighted a number of “improvement games” like Brain Age 2 and Flash Focus, an eye-training game, along with Ubisoft’s My Word Coach and My Life Coach, which he promises, “to not just improve your vocabulary, but make everything better.” Dr. Phil: The Game? C’mon… You know its coming.
Then came what has quickly shot up to the top of my “Most Anticipated Games” List: Wii Fit. The video began with a short video showing a man doing exercises on a flat white board. Dubbed the “Balance Board,” it measures your balance and movements while doing a set of exercises as well as playing exercise-based games.
Master designer Shigeru Miyamoto then took the stage to further demonstrate. Three trainers were invited to showcase some of the exercise types, which include leg stretches, a step aerobics type game and set of yoga-like exercises. All three measure your balance, though the calibration was off during the demo.
In addition to giving you a set of exercises, Wii Fit will also track your progress and calculate your Body Mass Index, which Reggie was asked to help demonstrate. According to Wii Fit, Reggie is “overweight.” Ouch! To help start Reggie on the road to fitness, Miyamoto challenged him to one of Wii Fit’s many game types, a bending exercise where you have to hit soccer balls with your head while avoiding flying shoes and panda heads (at least, I think I saw a panda head flying towards the screen). Reggie easily triumphed over Miyamoto. It looks like Wii Fit makes extensive use of Miis, so make sure you have your Richard Simmons and Billy Blanks Miis ready to roll.
At the close of the show, Reggie again reiterated Nintendo’s goal towards expanding to the mass-market. |
